Juliana+Liebke

Executive Summary
Using the survey, "Learning, Boredom, and Fun Analysis" provided by our EdTech 670 class, I found that an instructor's passion and expectations are the most important aspects to a fun learning environment or an instructor is not needed at all. Besides taking the survey myself, I also surveyed 3 adults my age, 2 women and one man and one man who is a generation older than me. Three teachers and one mechanic took the survey for me, and two out of three stated their most boring experience was related to professional development. Strange, I thought it would have been a complaint about some high school teacher. I also thought people would be more engaged in learning that required them to move around a lot and found, ironically in myself and others, that this is not always the case. Finally, it seems that the fun experiences were usually a result of the students' voluntarily participating in a learning experience--this presents a true challenge for middle school teachers.

What Makes Learning Boring?

 * 1) The instructor has low expectations of the learner(s).** Let's face it, most learning environments take work and effort on the part of the learner. Therefore, when the instructor doesn't expect much from the learner, the incentive to be engaged in the learning seems to vanish unless the learner finds a reason outside the instructor to learn the material, i.e. self interest. One of the survey participants said, "we quickly found that we weren't going to be tested on alot of the information so there wasn't any point in listening."


 * 2) The instructor speaks without passion.** Listening can be exhausting, especially in the face of a learner who doesn't want to be in the course. Survey participants said learning was boring when instructors were, "boring speakers," "telling stories about their life that were irrelevant to the learning," "speaking in a monotone," "speaking too slowly," and "avoids acknowledging that he lost the attention of the learners."


 * 3) The instructor lacks clarity.** Participants complained of boredom when "reading text without pointing out areas of emphasis," or when it becomes, "difficult to follow the instructor." In these instances, it was tough for participants to know what was expected of them and therefore, they lost interest in the topic. Another challenge was when the instructor failed to give clear directions for activities that were expected to be completed. For instance, requiring students to make a video could be a great task to expect of students, but without job aids to use iMovie or some other video software, the learners might shut down because the task is too difficult.


 * 4) The class does not engage learners.** Students complained that learning became dull when their participation was not desired. For instance, a student complained that a lecture without any feedback or ability to answer questions became boring. Online classes run into this danger, too, as students often need to resort to a "chat" box instead of talking directly with an instructor. Other helpful tools that students wish were present in most "lecture" setting situations include a clear agenda to help students know where the learning is taking them for the day and visual aids such as videos, power points, etc.


 * 5) The topic is irrelevant.** Participants also complain that learning is boring if it isn't challenging or it's already been learned. Students see this as a waste of their time. I have personally witnessed this when GATE students shut down in a class of under perfoming peers. Yet, it is important to pair student with mixed ability, so creating engaging learning plans is very important so that even repeat learners will enjoy the process. It is also important that a teacher gives students a clear purpose for the learning before the learning begins.

What Makes Learning Fun?

 * 1) Employing a variety of learning tools keeps learners engaged.** Learners discussed that, "a variety of learning strategies including: presenting, made posters, interacting with other learners," all helped make learning fun. Also included in the mix was participating in simulations and self-directed learning.


 * 2) The topic is chosen by students.** Learners expressed that learning something you’re already interested in makes class fun. In addition, learners will be engaged if they feel connected to the subject or lesson. In my example of a fun learning experience, I was reading 100 pages a week on my own and then attending a class where the instructor lectured on the topic, but it was fascinating because I wanted to be there and because, since I had done the reading, I could connect with what the instructor was lecturing about.


 * 3) Learning is fun when the instructor is an expert on the topic**. My favorite learning experiences were ones where PHD history professors were instructing because I love history. One of the my survey participants included a love of golf lessons because the instructor was a pro golfer. This way the instructor can give "good examples" of what the end result of the learning will be.


 * 4) Interaction with other students.** I found that learning situations in which group projects and presentations were required were often very successful. These projects included a lot of interaction with class mates and enhanced the fun of the learning experience. In addition, when the class read the same text, discussion was generated within the whole class bringing enthusiasm along with it. My favorite experiences have been such discussion based on difficult texts like the biography of Muhammad.


 * 5) Active learning where learning is often self-directed.** Participants expressed that hands-on learning was exciting. In one instance, my colleague really enjoyed watching a simulations from behind a two-way mirror to see how a self-directed activity would be carried out. Another participant found that his best learning experience included no instructor, but rather a self-directed tour of the Picasso museum which surprised him because he learned so much and had fun. This inspired me to do something similar with the Renaissance for my students.

Implications
These surveys have reinforced me to maintain my existing philosophy: teachers should be passionate about their topic, give students a clear purpose, and employ a variety of tactics and learning plans to address the needs of all students. By no means does this mean that I think I am a perfect teacher who needs no assistance or professional development. Quite the contrary. I work hard to make sure the California state standard addressed is clear to a student, that they will be tested on the topic in my class, and later by the state, and that there is a greater purpose, the relevance of the learning in their own personal lives.

I can only be passionate about my topic, World History: Medieval to Early Modern Times, because I continue to learn more about it each year. I do this by taking college or graduate level history classes, attending History-Social Science workshops, reading and seeing films/documentaries related to my content, and learning generic instructional tools to employ along with my topic. In addition, I employ a variety of tactics using a variety of resources. The nice thing about teaching the same course each year is that I get better at because I expand on the strategies each year. For example, the first year I taught the course, I relied heavily on the text book and spent a great deal of time learning how to create learning activities that engaged students in the text. Some things worked, some didn't, and I reflected and noted the successes to employ the next year. In the years since, I have used additional curricula that includes a variety of activities: experiencial exercises, projects, visual aids, and simulations. Each year I add another one, so that my text book is collecting more and more engaging activities that go with its information. In addition, I have learned AVID strategies which provide engaging reading tools and created a note-taking system based on AVID strategies. Finally, I have been learning a variety of technological tools that I've incorporated into the course such as video production, moodle, podcasting, blogs, webquests, and hopefully this year will include additional games and simulations. All in all, I spend year after year adding a larger variety of activities to the course to engage my students. This requires more and more professional development. Professional development of my choosing makes me more passionate about my course, and being more passionate about my course engages my learners more. It is a circular cycle that I've bought into, and the surveys, "Learning, Boredom, and Fun Analysis" has reinforced my philosophy to engage students with a variety of learning tools and keep being passionate about my topic.